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TESOL PROGRAM. TESOL certification program is a 120-hour course that provides a base knowledge in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Participants study TESOL methodologies, language learning strategies, and teaching aids in teaching English to speakers of other languages, including background on education in the Philippine setting and techniques and styles in teaching children.

Text and photos by Alex Belen

The American TESOL Institute held Cagayan de Oro’s inaugural Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan from April 17 to 25.

TESOL is a 120-hour program that trains English teachers to be more adaptable to their students' needs and wants in a learning environment, a more personal approach than teaching in a classroom.

In TESOL, grades are not enough proof of a student’s progress. The true objective of a TESOL-certified teacher is to teach English in a way that directly caters to the student’s background.

Things like the learner’s age, level of development, and interests are factored into the teaching method to ensure that the learner can truly understand English and to avoid a scenario that Paul H Groome, TESOL’s marketing officer, succinctly put: “[Speaking as the teacher] I’m going to teach you by explaining, and if you can’t understand that, tough luck.”

In partnership with Xavier Ateneo’s Office of International Cooperation and Networking (OICN), Groome oversaw the series of lectures and teaching demonstrations throughout the program, participated by 29 educators from the region.

Conducted by qualified TESOL trainers, the program covered theories with applications (theories of language, language teaching, learning, lesson planning); student-centered lecture sessions and teaching demonstrations and feedback; enhancement of teaching and language teaching experiences in a multicultural classroom and mainstream English classes; and written and practical assessment to measure learning.


TESOL TEACHING. Paul H Groome, TESOL’s marketing officer, says that things like the learner’s age, level of development, and interests should be factored into the teaching method to ensure that the learner can truly understand English.

In order to paint a better picture of the learner, when creating a lesson plan, things like their name, age, level, past lesson, hobbies, and the like are laid out carefully, so that the teacher may gain a better foothold in teaching English. 

For example, the teacher may use a learner’s love for Taylor Swift songs during their sessions and use this to make teaching more interesting and engaging.

When it comes to TESOL, simply knowing English is only half the battle. Every person struggles when learning a new language, because, as Groome said, every language has its own "quirks." 

Groome shared his experience with Cantonese, which is mostly a phonetic language, and the tones of individual words can either make or break an entire sentence.

He added that the struggle also lies in the vocabulary, as one such teacher shared about studying Japanese, which is a difficult language to learn. Whatever the situation, the teachers must be able to understand the place where their learner is coming from and be able to accommodate the factors in the process.

"It allowed me to go back to the foundations [of teaching] in order for us to be able to create more effective activities for our students in learning the English language,” said Ayn Daang-Actub, one of the TESOL participants.

“I am currently working with Filipino students. With the same approach, I am planning to improve the language use of our own Filipinos using the foundations that I’ve learned here in TESOL,” she added.

TESOL is reputed as the leading global education association in the English Learning Training (ELT) field. TESOL-certified teachers may find a career in teaching international students (children and adults) in a variety of settings locally and abroad.

Groome believes that all teachers should take the TESOL program in order to bridge the language gaps in all subjects and backgrounds.

Xavier University and the American TESOL Institute are both optimistic that this partnership will go a long way and hopefully result to an establishment of a regular TESOL program in Cagayan de Oro City.∎


TESOL PROGRAM. TESOL certification program is a 120-hour course that provides a base knowledge in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Pictured here is one of the lecturers of TESOL at Xavier Ateneo, Willibit Hillary Eunice Salvador.